Shirin Neshat Exhibition Identity

This is an unfinished, unpublished lettering concept created for the Kunsthalle (Műcsarnok) in Budapest, Hungary. The exhibition features Iranian-born visual artist Shirin Neshat, whose internationally acclaimed work includes photography and video installations that explore social structures in the Islamic world and the role of women in Iran.

The museum requested a lettering concept for the exhibition titles. Based on the artist's cultural background and the initial direction of the museum, the idea focused on blending elements of Arabic calligraphy with modern sans serif forms - aiming for a balance between tradition and contemporary design.

Key features of the concept include a fixed x-height with a free-flowing baseline, slight shifts in vertical angles to suggest movement, connecting letterforms, terminal swashes and the complete absence of letter envelopes.

Glyphs App was used to quickly prototype weight and width variations of the letterforms - essentially acting as a limited set type design. The project included a vertically stacked version of the logotype and a more decorative version, as well as mock-ups of billboards using the system - one of which was placed on the facade of the art gallery.

Although the project hasn't been completed or published - spacing issues and some curve imperfections remain - the process has been enjoyable and creatively satisfying.